Melissa Schuster

Melissa Schuster was a Council Member in the charming Town of Paradise, California on the morning of November 8th, 2018 when the disastrous “Camp Fire” roared through the community and the Town she served was forever changed, beyond imagination. Along with the entire Council and most of the residents, her home and business were lost. But she doesn’t believe in dwelling on the past, rather she races full-force into the embrace of all of the opportunities that this unimaginable disaster has afforded to her and her Community.

Melissa invites us all to visit, watch, and learn as, “We take these lessons and create a vibrant, resilient, state-of-the-art, rural community with infrastructure of the future, while preserving our culture and history.” Prior to her election to Town Council in 2016, Melissa was the proprietor of the well-known and much-loved Chapelle de L’Artiste Chateau and Retreat. Originally begun as a B&B in 2005, Chapelle de L’Artiste was located on the property she owned with her husband, Cliff. Prior to losing most of the structures on the property to the devastating Camp Fire of 2018, Chapelle de L’Artiste was the scene of many community fundraisers and exciting events, such as the “Annual Concours de la Chapelle Classic European Car Show” which was a benefit for Northern California Ballet and the Rotary Club of Paradise, and for which she served as event planner for nearly a decade. Melissa grew up in the high-desert community of Littlerock, spending summer days working in her family’s fruit- farming business. Her twenties found her living in and around the Los Angeles area, dipping her toes into a number of different industries, including the financial industry where she obtained her General Securities Registered Representative license. She was also a bartender and waitress, worked in the retail industry, and commercial property development, and even touched a bit into the legal and medical industries. She likes to joke that she “knows a little about a lot of stuff, but not much about anything.”

Melissa and Cliff were married in 2008 and they have been a couple for over 18 years. Together, they have 5 children and a dozen grands. They enjoy cars and home projects, traveling with friends and riding their recumbent trikes. They used to paint, which is where the “Artiste” part of Chapelle de L’Artiste (Chapel of the Artist) came from. The “Chapelle” refers to the chapel located on their property which, miraculously, survived the fire. Melissa is devoted to her community, and has been involved in promoting economic development, tourism and the arts for most of the last 20 years. In addition to the Council, Melissa serves on many Boards including the Butte Co. Mosquito & Vector Control District, the Shasta Cascade Wonderland/Up State California Tourism Association Board, the Explore Butte County Tourism Improvement District Advisory Board, as the League of California Cities Sacramento Valley Region 2 Representative, and the Paradise Citizens’ Alliance.